UNM: Working for Economic Development in New Mexico

An Executive Summary

This report details the way the University of New Mexico works for economic development in this state by (1) educating students to become productive citizens, (2) providing workforce training and development programs, (3) conducting research programs and activities, (4) providing direct support for business development and planning, and (5) undertaking a role in attracting new business into the state. This summary provides selected highlights from each of those major areas of economic development.

I. Educating Students to Become Productive Citizens
The education we provide to our students at the baccalaureate, graduate, and professional levels is the most obvious contribution UNM makes to the growth of the state's economy.

• More than 4,000 students graduate from UNM each year while another 400 receive associate degrees and educational certificates from our branch campuses. Of the nearly 100,000 UNM alumni living in the United States, 56% live and work in New Mexico.
• The quality and preparedness of our graduates is evidenced by positive survey responses from NM employers, alumni and the graduates themselves, as well as by the recent success of our students in competing for the nation's most prestigious academic awards.
• UNM graduates account for one-third of the state's physicians and attorneys; 25% of the state's teachers; 60% of NM pharmacists; approximately 2000 nurses; sizeable proportions of NM's architects, psychologists, engineers, business leaders, entrepreneurs, CEOs and government officials.
• UNM graduates have established and/or currently lead many New Mexico businesses that have created jobs and expanded employment throughout the state, as evidenced by our list of more than 100 such companies from around the state.

II. Workforce Training and Development Programs
UNM provides a wide range of programs designed to strengthen the skills of individuals seeking employment and to improve the effectiveness of current employees.

• UNM's Continuing Education Division helped train 3,673 clients through the Career Works Program and then helped them find jobs through its network of more than 300 New Mexico companies.
• Over the past year, more than 11,000 employees from approximately 100 companies and organizations in New Mexico received computer skills training, customized job training or professional development training from Continuing Education or the Anderson Schools of Management.
• Programs like the Construction Advancement Institute and manufacturing engineering in the School of Engineering produce highly skilled workers to meet specific workforce needs in New Mexico.

III. Research Program and Activities
Major research universities like UNM attract out-of-state funding that results in the creation of jobs, the expansion of knowledge, the commercialization of technology and the catalyst for start-up businesses and company expansions.

• By conservative estimates, in FY 2000, UNM directly supported the salaries and benefits of 5,571 full-time equivalent employees in New Mexico solely from its out-of-state revenues.
• The spending power of these 5,571 FTEs, as well as the state and local taxes they pay, provides support for still more jobs, as does UNM's expenditure of more than $137,000,000 of its external funding annually to purchase New Mexico goods and services. Through these indirect means, UNM's external funds have led to the creation of another 5,203 jobs.
• Approximately 300 UNM research discoveries are in the patenting process, more than two dozen licensing agreements have been executed which have brought in more than $1 million in licensing revenue, and 19 companies in New Mexico with another five outside the state have been "spun-off" as the result of technology developed at UNM.
• Because of its research expertise, UNM plays a major role in collaborations like the Next Generation Economy, which focuses on the development of industry clusters that will provide significant opportunities to attract and grow new businesses and new jobs.
• UNM also participates in research collaborations like the New Mexico Nanoscience Alliance, the National Foundation for Functional Brain Imaging and Human Genome Research which develop new technologies and devices that have a highly significant potential for technology transfer to the private sector, creating more business and jobs.
• Endowed chairs in specific fields can contribute directly to economic development through the research that is fostered by nationally and internationally recognized faculty members who fill the endowed chair positions.

IV. Direct Support of Business Development and Planning
UNM facilitates the startup and development of new businesses and provides planning advice for new and current businesses.

• A new business incubator in the UNM Science and Technology Park supports the development of both UNM and non-UNM start-up businesses.
• Several Anderson Schools of Management programs educate professionals in technology transfer and help spin-offs and start-ups with business and marketing plans as well as financial analyses.
• A number of UNM institutes and centers, such as the Bureau of Business and Economic Research and the UNM Statistics Clinic, provide business and government with economic data and analyses, state-of-art public opinion survey results, and information and technology expertise.

V. Role in Attracting New Business into the State
UNM provides the access to quality higher education, the pool of well-educated potential employees and support services, as well as the quality of life amenities that attract business.

• A number of indicators point to the dramatic rise in the national reputation of the University of New Mexico over the past decade, including the quality of the faculty, the number of nationally ranked programs and the quality of our students who successfully compete for the nation's top academic honors.
• UNM enhances the quality of life throughout the local community and the state with its wide variety of services, such as the health care provided by the Health Sciences Center; the educational resources provided by the UNM libraries; the cultural events offered at venues like Popejoy Hall, the various concert halls and museums; and the variety of NCAA Division I athletic competitions.
• UNM's support of Albuquerque Economic Development and the expanded role it's playing in efforts to attract new business to Albuquerque signal the University's growing importance to business executives.